And now, on a more serious note: Pray for the Philippines

Updated to say: A couple people asked, so I added some links with donation info at the bottom.

Hi guys. Just a quick note to ask any pray-ers out there to say a few for the Philippines today. Last weekend a powerful storm, Typhoon Ketsana, dumped an unbelievable amount of rain on the city of Manila.

A month's worth of rain in just 12 hours. Something like eighty percent of the city was submerged. And to put that in perspective, Manila is massive. It's ginormous, in fact. (And yes, that's the technical term.) There are about 20 million people who live in metro Manila, making that one city as populous as the whole nation of Australia. Wow.

Alot of our church members here in Sydney are from the Philippines, and they came to church last Sunday with stories of their family members fleeing as floodwaters rose faster than they would've thought possible. Many are still in Evacuation Centers, as their homes were submerged up to the rooflines. So, to say the least, it's been a tough week there. The storm went on to wreak havoc in Vietnam as well.

And now, it appears that there is another storm headed for the Philippines. This one, Typhoon Parma, is expected to make landfall today in the northern part of the nation, the island of Luzon, where Manila is located.

This has been a crazy week in this part of the world! I don't know how much you might've heard but there have been earthquakes in Indonesia and Tonga, a tsunami in Samoa, and these typhoons as well. I just wanted to put it out there--to pray for the people in these nations whose lives are in chaos after all this, and for those in the Philippines now, who are bracing for another storm. We have friends here who have family members in its path. I am thinking of them this morning.

Hope you are all well. Have a great weekend, and stay safe.

Oh, by the way! Jason and I, as well as our church, are giving towards the relief efforts. If you'd like to be a part of that, let me know and I can point you toward some international relief organizations who are involved. Mwah!

Update: Here's some links. These are two that we're personally involved with.
Every Nation Ministries: gives specifically to local churches who are mobilizing relief assistance in their communities. Click "one-time donation" and then follow the prompts.

Compassion International. They are already providing assistance through their child development centres there.

And of course, the Red Cross.